The present disclosure relates to food preparation, and more specifically, to providing suggestions for a prepared dish based on olfactory characteristics observed in a canonical version and an actual version of the dish.
Devices for sensing or diffusing smells have a number of applications in the culinary community. For example, as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) devices become more portable, a cook can capture odor compounds of various ingredients used in recipes. The cook may then analyze the odor compounds of the ingredients to further develop recipes, e.g., where each ingredient complements the other based on the odor compounds. As another example, portable odor diffusing devices provide convenience for users to reproduce certain odors based on a given odor compound. For instance, the odor diffusing device can allow a user to accurately simulate the scent of a certain ingredient without the ingredient actually being physically present.
Indeed, the prominence of odor sensing and diffusing devices may address certain issues with a dining experience. One particular issue is where a dish does not meet expectations of a diner because of the taste or the smell of the dish. This can happen for a variety of reasons. For example, although a dish may have been prepared according to a recipe, the dish nevertheless may have been prepared by a less skilled cook. As another example, a cook may have substituted ingredients described in a recipe for lower quality ingredients (e.g., due to monetary constraints or the originally described ingredients being unavailable in a current season).
Further, failure to meet expectations is also subjective and may depend on a diner. For instance, ingredient substitutions may be necessary to accommodate allergies or other dietary constraints of a diner. In addition, diners may have different sensibility thresholds to different flavors, e.g., a given diner may think a recipe does not have enough of a certain spice where another diner eating the identical dish thinks the amount of spice is appropriate. Therefore, personalizing a dish for a diner presents challenges.